Surrey Hills 'Nirvana' Freeride - what's it like?

bartimaeus

My nephew is keen to try the Nirvana 'Freeride', organised by Nirvana Cycles in Westcott. Does anyone have any experience of this? My nephew wants me to take him along to this when I'm next up... but I'm not sure whether this is a good idea or not.

The Nirvana website (which is pretty out of date) says they organise Freeride at 10am on Saturdays... they also have a blog which has not been updated in a while.

I'd like to know what level this is as the pictures and video suggest that this is not for beginners, and my nephew is your typical 15 year old keen to have a go MTB'er without much experience. I'm more of an XC rider, and while I'm happy to have a go on small drops, jumps, berms and rocks, I don't want to hurt myself (or my bike). I'm not overly keen on trying a gap jump even if they do stick a door in the middle :shock:

So, does this still run? Anyone tried it? How suitable is it for relative novices?

cooldad

Nothing up there that is too radical. There are a few massive jumps etc, but doubt they will go over them, and there is always a chicken run anyway. (I know them all)
Could be quite a long ride. Westcott to Leith is uphill all the way and quite tiring. Trip back is good fun though. In 4 hours you can easily get to Holmbury and beyond, which could be hard on someone not used to it.

Just had a look - no updates since 2006 - I'd give them a call first.

There are a random bunch of us ride SH regularly and you would be welcome to join in - it's quite a big area and helps to have someone who knows it or you miss the best bits.
Take a look in London Calling (if you can get past the utter drivel most people post)

njee20

From what I've heard it's more ride to gap/jump/drop, repeat 50 times, move on. It's not really about 'riding' as such. If he wants to ride the biggest jumps and things then go nuts, but it's not an XC ride with a few little jumps. I'd suggest if you'd be looking for chicken runs it wouldn't be for you, you'd be standing around a lot.

That's second hand advice though, I've not been on their rides. They're well known for being fairly unhospitable, and will leave riders behind if you're not up to scratch. Not a problem per se, but don't expect they'll 'carry' a rider who's lagging behind.

cooldad

Don't like the sound of that. We always wait happily for the slowest person (me generally) and spend the time talking, snacking or knitting.

njee20

Mmm, yes their XC ride is very well known for setting out at a daft pace, effectively to shell out those who won't make the cut! If people know that's the case then it's not a huge issue, not everyone will want to wait for riders, but I've no desire to ride with them, and I'd like to hope I could keep up :-)

diy

Take him by yourself, there are plenty of folk here who can send you gpx trails for all the popular trails.

If he's new to this then I'd suggest holmbury over Leith hill as there is an nice 8km loop that does BKB, Ypots and telegraph, you can park in the car park too.

As Cooldad says, Leith could be hard work for a newbie. but you'll have plenty of fun whichever you choose.

better to play it safe with other peoples kids tbh, better to bore him than damage him.

Jedi

i'd say why not go and see.

meesterbond

njee20 wrote:

Mmm, yes their XC ride is very well known for setting out at a daft pace, effectively to shell out those who won't make the cut! If people know that's the case then it's not a huge issue, not everyone will want to wait for riders, but I've no desire to ride with them, and I'd like to hope I could keep up :-)

That's pretty accurate... I went on one to demo a bike a good while back and I think it was only the fact I was on one of the shop's demo bikes that I didn't get left in the forest!

I went last on one of the sections, screwed it up and by the time I'd sorted myself out everyone had buggered off other than the shop owner.

Not a friendly bunch, although that was 5-6 years ago so that may have changed.

bartimaeus

Thanks... I've been out with him a couple of times round where I live. Last time we did his first ever night ride, with two proper climbs (100-150m over 1 - 1.5km each), which he managed fine, but at a gentle pace. He needs to get fitter, and I think his parents are hoping this will be something to encourage him.

Previously he came down part of my local 'rollable' DH course, which is where I think he's got the bug. I want to encourage him, but to be honest 'London Calling' sounds a better bet than this freeride stuff. I suspect, though, that cooldad is not as slow as he says... most MTBers I know forget just how hard it is to be a beginner trying to keep up, but I can remember. If we can get a tour of the area then he can find some features to session and build his confidence.

My nephew is on a basic Hardrock, so this may be the first time we find out whether it really does have 80mm of useable travel... I am not so sure. It's a decent enough bike, though he's now angling for a new full suss (I borrowed one for him to try last time... I'm not sure my sister-in-law will forgive me for this). Expect to see a thread on upgrading a Hardrock on a budget sometime soon .

All this is for 1st/2nd October. I'll probably post in 'London Calling' for myself for 2nd October as it is my birthday, and I'm owed a ride. The wife is a bit embarrassed that she organised for us to go away that weekend, but a day in the Surrey Hills would make up for this oversight.

cooldad

Big range of people we ride with, all ages and skills. Just depends who makes it on the day. We get quite a few beginners, some of them even come back.
But we just do it for fun, so no problem if someone is struggling to keep up, actually it's all the excuse some of us need to take it easy.
And we have a rule that no one gets left to the wolves or bears.

Blind Danny Johnson

Bartimaeus wrote:

Thanks... I've been out with him a couple of times round where I live. Last time we did his first ever night ride, with two proper climbs (100-150m over 1 - 1.5km each), which he managed fine, but at a gentle pace. He needs to get fitter, and I think his parents are hoping this will be something to encourage him.

Previously he came down part of my local 'rollable' DH course, which is where I think he's got the bug. I want to encourage him, but to be honest 'London Calling' sounds a better bet than this freeride stuff. I suspect, though, that cooldad is not as slow as he says... most MTBers I know forget just how hard it is to be a beginner trying to keep up, but I can remember. If we can get a tour of the area then he can find some features to session and build his confidence.

My nephew is on a basic Hardrock, so this may be the first time we find out whether it really does have 80mm of useable travel... I am not so sure. It's a decent enough bike, though he's now angling for a new full suss (I borrowed one for him to try last time... I'm not sure my sister-in-law will forgive me for this). Expect to see a thread on upgrading a Hardrock on a budget sometime soon .

All this is for 1st/2nd October. I'll probably post in 'London Calling' for myself for 2nd October as it is my birthday, and I'm owed a ride. The wife is a bit embarrassed that she organised for us to go away that weekend, but a day in the Surrey Hills would make up for this oversight.

I'm a beginner and I had a hardrock until recently, upgraded to a '09 Stumpjumper FSR and Rock Shox Revelation forks about a month ago. I thought the hardrock was great actually and I'm glad I started on that because I was able to ride a few times and get into it without worrying about spending a fortune on a bike which might have turned out all wrong, also that I can't afford anyway!

I noticed a massive difference when I got the 140mm forks up front and the full sus frame however, lots more confidence etc. Whatever bike you've got it's still fun I reckon.

I've been on a couple of rides with the London Calling lot and I'd highly recommend it. Very welcoming and friendly. Definitely wait for slower people and very knowledgeable about the trails on Surrey Hills and Swinley. I hope to be riding with them loads more.

ashleymp777

meesterbond wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Mmm, yes their XC ride is very well known for setting out at a daft pace, effectively to shell out those who won't make the cut! If people know that's the case then it's not a huge issue, not everyone will want to wait for riders, but I've no desire to ride with them, and I'd like to hope I could keep up :-)

That's pretty accurate... I went on one to demo a bike a good while back and I think it was only the fact I was on one of the shop's demo bikes that I didn't get left in the forest!

I went last on one of the sections, screwed it up and by the time I'd sorted myself out everyone had buggered off other than the shop owner.

Not a friendly bunch, although that was 5-6 years ago so that may have changed.

+1 on that. And no, they're no friendlier still. A real Marmite bunch IMHO.

kinggareth

ashleymp777 wrote:

meesterbond wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Mmm, yes their XC ride is very well known for setting out at a daft pace, effectively to shell out those who won't make the cut! If people know that's the case then it's not a huge issue, not everyone will want to wait for riders, but I've no desire to ride with them, and I'd like to hope I could keep up :-)

That's pretty accurate... I went on one to demo a bike a good while back and I think it was only the fact I was on one of the shop's demo bikes that I didn't get left in the forest!

I went last on one of the sections, screwed it up and by the time I'd sorted myself out everyone had buggered off other than the shop owner.

Not a friendly bunch, although that was 5-6 years ago so that may have changed.

+1 on that. And no, they're no friendlier still. A real Marmite bunch IMHO.

I'm glad i'm not the only that experienced this! I was a real MTB beginner on a terrible first bike, but i got no advice, no help and no-one waiting for me. in fact considering I was a real beginner i was a little bit surprised that they were trying to get me to ride a drop that was about 8ft high!

It made me feel inadequate and put me off MTB'ing.

AVOID.

cooldad

Blind Danny Johnson wrote:

I've been on a couple of rides with the London Calling lot and I'd highly recommend it. Very welcoming and friendly. Definitely wait for slower people and very knowledgeable about the trails on Surrey Hills and Swinley. I hope to be riding with them loads more.

Awww you made me blush.
But just a point, 'we' don't own the thread, just post in it a lot. It's just a normal Rides thread, anyone is welcome to post rides or suggestions or anything else for that matter.
Doesn't even have anything to do with London except some people live there, mainly aimed at Surrey (SH, Swinley, Tunnel Hill etc).
Surrey's Calling would have sounded stupid though.